At Plant Tok, we love gardening influencers touting the benefits of DIY vinegar weed killer. It's natural! It has immediate effect! It is the safest one for your garden. His videos, in which he shares homemade herbicide recipes (usually a mixture of white vinegar, salt and dish soap), have garnered millions of views. But do they actually work?
We decided to investigate whether vinegar can kill weeds or is it a waste of time? For some expert insight, we reached out to Dr. Clint Walz, a turfgrass extension specialist at the University of Georgia. Dr. Jeff Gilman, Director, UNC Charlotte Botanical Garden;and author Stephanie Rose. Regenerative gardens: 80 practical projects to build self-sustaining garden ecosystems and garden alchemy. Scroll through to see what we found out.
How vinegar herbicide works
The truth turns out to be complicated. “Vinegar works by contact method,” Walz says. “This product only affects the plant tissue it comes into contact with, but does not penetrate the entire plant.”
If you spray your plants with a DIY vinegar mixture, their leaves will curl up and die quickly. However, this quick reaction can be misleading and make you think you have achieved something. “Vinegar seems to have an immediate effect,” Gilman says. “But then it's an incredible waste of time, because vinegar only destroys cells and doesn't have the ability to penetrate soil and roots.”
Sadly, this means most weeds will begin to green back up within 10 to 14 days, Walz says. In reality, it doesn't actually “kill” the weeds, it just knocks them back. And it's not forever (more on that later).
Is vinegar herbicide safe?
Although there is a perception that “natural” = safe, vinegar is not inherently harmless. “Some gardeners like the idea of using an 'organic' herbicide, but vinegar is still a chemical or an herbicide,” Rose says. “It's not a synthetic herbicide.”
Vinegar can also harm creatures such as beneficial insects, earthworms, salamanders, toads, and frogs that fly around your garden. “Vinegar is toxic to amphibians,” Gilman says. “The idea that it's in any way safer than conventional pesticides is ridiculous. Just because you find something in your kitchen doesn't mean it's somehow safer.”
in the end, Vinegar contains acetic acid. Household vinegar (the kind you sprinkle on salads) usually contains 5 percent acetic acid, while stronger solutions called horticultural vinegars contain 20 or 30 percent acetic acid. These products can burn skin, permanently damage eyes, and be harmful if inhaled, so the manufacturer recommends that you wear safety glasses and other protective equipment when using them. I am. In fact, most states require EPA pesticide registration if acetic acid is used as a herbicide.
How to make vinegar herbicide
You may have seen DIY vinegar herbicide recipes on social media that use vinegar, soap, and salt. “From a gardening perspective, these recipes are laughable,” Rose says. “It's no more of a problem than just stripping the weed leaves and leaving the roots intact. And in the end, you end up doing the same amount of spraying and physical weeding.” I guess.”
And no matter what you hear, these DIY vinegar herbicide mixtures are not somehow “better” for the soil because this concentration of acetic acid (or salt) is not found in soils in nature. Gilman says.
When to use vinegar herbicide
Vinegar is not completely useless. There's nothing wrong with experimenting in your garden. “But understand what you can and cannot do and adjust your expectations accordingly,” Gilman says. “It works well if the weeds are very small and just emerging.”
Walz says vinegar needs to be reapplied frequently (about every 10 days). Vinegar also has no residual activity, so it won't prevent new weed seeds from germinating.So you're going to go out there a lot If you have time, you can also use a spray.
Vinegar is also more effective against broad-leaved weeds such as plantain and chickweed and young annual weeds than against grass weeds such as grass weed. Vinegar doesn't work against perennial weeds that pop up every year, Gilman said.
It also won't help with weeds that spread underground by tubers or stolons, such as nutsedge and clover, Walz said. The vinegar doesn't come into contact with these underground parts of the plant, so it just keeps coming back (and spreading).
Vinegar may be effective against weeds in gravel and between cracks in pavement and driveways, but it should be applied in an inconspicuous area first to avoid staining the surface or damaging the mortar after repeated uses. there is.
Finally, avoid getting vinegar on any plants you don't want to damage. Vinegar is non-selective, so it will harm plants it comes into contact with, Rose says.
long term weed management
A combination of approaches is the most effective and sustainable approach. In fact, weeds can teach us a lot. “Weeds tell us what's missing in our soil,” Rose explains. “When we have an attitude of controlling nature, we end up building systems that have to be maintained in very labor-intensive ways. This will give you a better understanding of how it works.”
For long-term weed control, try these tips from the experts.
- plant ground cover This is to prevent weeds from growing, Rose said.
- Add mulch to suppress weeds Rose says it's around landscape flower beds and plantings.
- Dig up weeds. “Honestly, once you pull out the weeds, you don't have to worry about what you apply to your garden,” Gilman says.
- Mow at the appropriate height depending on the type of lawn.It will help control weed growth, Walz said.
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